1 week later.
I walk onto the train with Quantum, Quasar, Aito, Daniel, Ren, Teacher Hayashi and Teacher Sasaki. Ito wanted to come but he wasn't allowed. I look around and spot students in yellow uniforms sitting at the back. My eyes sharpen at them.
"Ma Tosaka High" I whisper.
"Huh?" Ren asks taking a window seat.
"The people in yellow are Ma Tosaka High which is known for their fierce volleyball team" I explain sitting next to him not wanting any of the others to put things into his head.
"So they're our competition?" Ren asks.
"Yes and a fierce one at that" Daniel says sitting in the seat before us. Quasar sits next to him.
"Wow!" Ren exclaims staring at Ma Tosaka.
"Why are they called Ma Tosaka?" Aito asks from the seat behind us.
"They only wanted to be Mato high which is translated to target in english but the founder of the school loved his hometown so much so he named them Ma Tosaka." I explain.
"They're from Osaka" Daniel says seeing the others confused.
"Oh"
"Do you know anything about the other teams?" Aito asks thirsting for knowledge.
"Before I came I studied them" I answer. "Um so the biggest competitor we have and you all know is Shonaru High which is in Tokyo, the best at track and field meaning they're really fast and their unifrom is white and blue the complete opposite of ours."
"Anyone can tell you that" Sasaki remarks.
"Zuoko Boys School is from Shizuoka. Their colour is orange. Unlike the rest of the schools they're unchallenged in basketball and like the title they're isn't a single girl in the school. Hirosaki Prep is from Hirosaki as in the name. Colour is blue and figure skating is what they're best at in the 6 schools. Last but not least is Sendai Academy. They're from Sendai Miyagi, colour is red and martial arts is their favourite sport. So expect them all to be fast and skillful because if you underestimate them they will win" I say the basic infromation about the other 4 schools. "Oh and don't expect any girls other than me to compete."
"Why?" Ren asks curious for the reason.
"This challenge has an all boys school and is mainly seen as a boys game. Which I find insulting. So if one of the boys harrases a girl we might not ever know about it." I answer.
Ren nods in understanding since it's all about the safety.
"They were going to invite Akita Girls Academy but then decided not to" Daniel comments.
"Don't worry Chikara. We boys will protect you" Aito declares arrogantly.
"You need serious help" I say not believing that there's another arrogant fool in the group (the first one was me).
The next stop is Shizuoka which takes a little over an hour. Everything goes well until an hour and 23 minutes where Shonaru High gets on. Shonaru's 6 students are all male and are even worse than Aito.
"Darling you could still pull out now if you're scared" One of Shonaru's students calls in a disgusting tone.
"When I slam your face into the ground don't go crying to your mother" I threaten with a smile. The only thing I can do from stopping myself form punching him is clench my jaw and clutch my arm making it bleed from the force.
"Oh she's fiesty" The Shonaru students laugh.
"Yah!" I stand up.
Daniel reaches over the back of his seat and holds me down. "They're only trying to provoke you Adi."
I take a deep breath and sit back down. I've always hated men like that. "Well I know who I'm going to get first." I say sending a murderous glance in Shonaru's direction.
The boys nod in agreement.
"Don't get too worked up over a bunch of boys Chikara-san" Hayashi warns.
"Yes Sir"
I look over at the Shonaru students and see a guy a bit on the lanky side. Before I noticed that he didn't laugh but instead looked at his school mates with disdain.
"Sir why are we made to wear sports clothes with numbers?" Ren asks.
"So everyone can tell you're from Shizen and so if they ever adress you they just say Shizen number" Sasaki explains.
"Why did you pick 13?" Ren asks.
"I'm the 13th born, duh!"
"Oh" Ren says before falling asleep.
"Seriously what does he do all night?" I ask looking at him. "Wait I don't wanna know" I change my mind remembering what Landis* and Landin* once said to me;
["When boys reach puberty some of them watch p*rn and then need to relieve theirselves"]
I shiver in disgust thinking about it.
*
The rest of the train ride goes smoothly. When we reach Hiosaki we switch over to a plane and fly to Sapporo in which we then book a hotel to stay in for the night.
"Are you sure you want to compete?" I ask Quasar. I glance at his arm which he notices.
"Like I said a million times, I'm alright" Quasar says trying to reassure us.
I poke his arm.
"Ow! Why did you do that?" Quasar asks.
"You're not fine" I answer.
"That's only because you poked me hard" Quasar complains.
"Did I?" I ask guilty. I lift up his shirt to see a round red mark where I poked. "Ha ha ha" I laugh awkwardly.
"See there's only a small scar" Quasar says.
I look up and only now do I notice the pink scar. "Ha ha" I laugh awkwardly again. "Sorry" I apologize before sitting next to Ren.
We are sitting in the room the Tanaru twins and Aito share.
"Who do you think will be our biggest competitor?" Aito asks chewing a piece of gum.
"No one" Daniel and I say together.
"Why?" Aito asks. He's still doesn't know that I'm Adira Yukimura.
"Well you have me for the leader, Adira the ace, then you have the Tanaru twins who are good at defence and then we have you Ren and you for the weaklings" Daniel answers.
"I am not the weakling of the group!" Ren and Aito protests
"Ren you couldn't even hold a knife until a week ago" I remind him. Ren sinks back into his chair.
"Okay that's enough fighting. We have an early day tomorrow so we'll leave" Daniel says standing up and walking out of the room.
"Make sure you have everything packed before going to bed and make sure you sleep early. Goodnight" I say walking out of the room with Ren. We walk to the room across from theirs which Daniel is trying to unlock it with the room card.
"Goodnight Adira" Daniel says after he unlocks the door. He jumps onto one of the beds, rolls over and falls asleep.
"Ren you can take the other bed" I offer. I sit on the small couch in the room.
"But wouldn't it be uncomfortable sleeping on the couch?" Ren asks, voice laced with concern.
"When I'm at home, every fortnight all of the children gather up and sleep in the lounge room. So I am naturally used to sleeping in small spaces" I reassure him.
"Okay. Night" Ren says, laying onto the bed and falling asleep.
I wait a couple of minutes to make sure if he fell asleep before packing everything into their correct bags. I don't know why but I have a feeling that we won't be able to pack up. I lay down on the couch and curl up into a little ball. I close my eyes and fall asleep.
Later on in the night I wake up to the sound of the room opening. A few people walk in. I pretend to still be asleep since I don't sense any bad vibes coming from them.
The people creep towards me first and puts a cloth over my mouth. My eyes fling open when I catch the smell of chloral hydrate but it's mixed with something else that I just can't put my finger on it.
I look up at the people and realize that Teacher Hayashi is in the room with a guilty look on his face.
'This is where the fun begins' Astrid's voice rings in my head.
It's the last thing I hear before losing consciousness.